Canucks trade Dahlen to Sharks; MacEwen, Mazanec sent to Comets

The Vancouver Canucks traded forward Jonathan Dahlen to the San Jose Sharks prior to the NHL trade deadline, Monday. They also sent forward Zack MacEwen and goalie Marek Mazanec to the Utica Comets.

Posted: Feb 26, 2019 12:46 AM

Posted By: Spencer Davidson

Utica, N.Y. - The Utica Comets lost another player to the business side of hockey, as the Vancouver Canucks traded forward Jonathan Dahlen to the San Jose Sharks, Monday.

The deal took place just before this year's NHL trade deadline, which was at 3 p.m. ET, though it wasn't formally announced until nearly an hour after it had past.

It was a one-for-one trade as the Canucks acquired 19-year-old forward prospect, Linus Karlsson, in return.

Dahlen, 21, is in the midst of his first full season playing in North America, appearing just two regular season games with the Comets at the end of last season.

This year, he had 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points in 50 games for Utica, where he ranked fifth on the team in points.

According to Canucks General Manager, Jim Benning, in a press conference held on Monday, Dahlen's agent had approached him a short time ago requesting that he be moved in the hopes of pursuing a better opportunity to compete at the NHL level sooner.

Benning said that once they found a player that they liked, he was willing to make the deal, calling it a "lateral move" for the organization.

"I think there's upside to Jonathan's game. I don't necessarily think that there was a fit to the style of game that our team, or our organization likes to play," Benning said. "We work with them all year on those things [that fit our style] and he's improved those things, but we just felt good about getting Karlsson in this deal."

Karlsson is currently playing for Karlskrona HK in the Allsvenskan, in his native country of Sweden, where he has 17 points in 48 games.

The 6-1, 187-pound forward was originally selected by San Jose in the third round, 87th overall, at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

This is the fourth trade involving a Comets player this year, with Michael Carcone and Tanner MacMaster both being sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization in separate deals, and Darren Archibald getting shipped to the Ottawa Senators organization earlier in the year.

In addition to the Dahlen trade, the Canucks also made a few other roster moves involving the Comets on Monday.

Forward Zack MacEwen and Marek Mazanec have been sent down to Utica.

MacEwen is coming off of a four-game stint with the Canucks, making his NHL debut on February 11, against the Sharks, where he registered an assist.

For the Comets this year, MacEwen has 42 points in 49 games, ranking third on the team.

Mazanec will head to Utica for the first time, after being traded to the Canucks from the New York Rangers on February 12.

He's appeared in 20 AHL games this season for the Hartford Wolf Pack where he was 7-8-3 with a 3.01 goals against average and .903 save percentage.

Overall, he's appeared in 31 career NHL contests, all with the Nashville Predators, where he was 8-13-4 with a 2.98 goals against average and .895 save percentage. He also had two shutouts.

Defensemen Ashton Sautner and Guillaume Brisebois were also re-assigned as 'paper transactions' in order to make them eligible to play for the Comets the rest of the season and through the playoffs.